fight shy of

The federal government has traditionally fought shy of becoming involved in education, which is mainly dealt with at state level.

Labour has fought shy of scrapping the policy, since it is politically difficult to tinker with a long-standing deal under which tenants can buy their house at a discount of up to 70% after three years of occupation.

But apart from an occasional outburst on the cost of fuel, the parties have generally fought shy of saying how they will tackle the difficult and often expensive problems surrounding Britain's various systems of transport.

have scruples about, scruple about, have misgivings about, have qualms about, be averse to, be chary of, not be in favour of, be against, be opposed to, be diffident about, be bashful about, be shy about, be coy about;